Transit apparatus



Dec. 9, 1930. J. A. HARRISS TRANSIT APPARATUS 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 29 R J O N E V X ATTORNEY S Dec. 9, 1930.

J. 'A. HARRISS- TRANSIT APPARATUS Filed April 29, 1927 Q 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTO RN EYs Dec. 9, 1930.

J. HARRISS TRANSIT APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 29, 1927 g IZVEN'EOR ATTO EYS a @i r Patented Decp9, 1930 warren STATES.

I 1,7s4,72s

' JoHN A. HARRISS, of NEW YORK, 1v. Y.

"TRAnsIrnrrAnATUs "Ap' uauo filed April 29,

My invention relates to transit apparatus and transit systems adapted tobe employed in improving transit facilities not only in congested areas, such as large cities," but throughout the country as a whole. i

The handlingof traffic inthe larger cities,

like New York, for example, has become such a problem that despite the many plans sug gested, it is almost impossible to move the '10 traific at sufiicient speed to prevent congestion, and, in fact, almost complete stagnation at times, particularly in the business districts.

Many plans have been devised for overcoming this condition of affairs, such as regulation by traflic controlflights,'the building of underground passagew'ays, and the arcading of streets, and other plans too numerous to mention. All of these 'sugge'sted plans,

however, have proven unsatisfactory for one reason or another, the problem ofp'roper ventilation and tremendous cost of construction being a gre at drawback to the underground systems, while with other suggested plans it becomes necessary to alter, and in some cases to completely demolish, buildings along the proposedway, involving the outlay of enormous sums of money by the community and a great loss to property owners. The apparatus of thepresent invention, I

believe, overcomes all these difficulties in a practicablefashion, being of such a character that the'sa'me may be" installed in existing streets if desired without necessitating the tearing down or the alteration in any way of buildings along these streets, and, in fact, Without the expenditure of the tremendous sums of money necessarily now expended for structures used heretofore. My improved apparatus is so arranged also that the same may be readily installed not only in or along mainhighways or streets, but in ci-ossstreets or highwaysas well, and may be extended at a practicable and commercial cost through. out the country, so as to provide anet-work of weather-protected, self-ventilatinghighways throughout tliecountry, connecting all 7 of the larger communities as well as openingup unlimited areas with n short distances of'eiustl'ng large cities and towns, which areas ai-e'no'w more orless claimant.-

192?! Serial n 187,429.:

Another feature of great advantage inherent in thepresent apparatusis that the same may be constructed or erected along and over the right of Way of existing railroad lines, thereby overcoming the necessity of constructing entirely new roads paralleling those rights of Way while affording, due to the constructionof my improved apparatus, aprotection for the railroad lines along which, it passes which in and of itself is of greatadvantage. I 1

At the present time the expense. of maintenance, to saynothing of the expense of initial construction, of roadsorhighways and city streets is enormous. Thismaintenance cost is due, especially along state highways, not only to the large number of vehicles pass .ing-over these thoroughfares,vbut to the acroadways or thoroughfares, along which these 5 vehicles will travel, thereby reducing the cost ofmaintenancedue to weather destruction'to a minimum.

My improved apparatus is also of such a character as to provide adequate parking and loading spaces for traflic from the surrounding territory coming into a commu nity where my apparatus is installed; landing spaces for aeroplanes, enabling aplane to land in a city for example, if desired or necessary the installation of powerlines Without going underground; the installation of illuminating gas lines enabling both electricity and gas to be carried into communities where the cost of installation up to new has been prohibitive. My improved apparatus is" adapted also to carry gasoline and oil lines thereby relieving the streets of these objectionable features, I provide also for segregation of N the differenttypes of vehicles travelingover my improved highway, in that the fastest movin vehicles, such as pleasure c'ars,; foi' example, will have" their own ighway er l s if t l s h h theyii ay Press d;

trucks, etc, may, if desired, each have their own right of way. In thisway each class of tra'fiic may be speeded up to the n'laxin'ium.

It is a further object of my invention to provide transit apparatus which is of sucl a character that the highways may intersect, thereby providing for installation incross streets and enabling tra'fiic through these streets to be speeded up as well as the trailic through the main arteries or streets ota city or a community.

A further object of my invention is to provide for adequate ventilation in the construction of the apparatus itseli, eliminating the necessity of installingelaborate and expensive ventilatingapparatus. 1 In providing-for thisventilation I also overcome the drawbacks inherent in prior structures suggested for relieving traliic congestion,- in' that the light to buildings along my improved highway will not be excluded toa detrimental extent, thereby eliminating the necessity of installing artificial lighting systems in such buildings. The value or this feature will be appreciated in city installations,While the self-ventilating feature is of value not only in city installations, but installations made anywhere, 1

My improved apparatus is of such a characterthat the same may be constructed throughout of steel andconcrete, so as to -be practically indestructible, or at least so as to reduce the cost of maintenance to the 'minimum, and in this very connection, as

above noted, the fact that the roadways are protected against destruction by the elementswill go a long way toward keeping the cost of maintenance down, particularly as compared with the cost of maintenance on exposed State'highways.

'Another object of my invention is to provide transit apparatus in which, if desired, moving roadways for pedestrians may be provided, particularly in the vicinity of loading and unloading stations for busses and the like, and I may say that these moving roadways o-r conveyors may be ofany practicable length, and will enable pedestrians to be transported for soine'dist-ance to bus terminals with ease and facility and without interfering in any way with vehicular traffic.

Actually in effect I take the greaterpart 0t traliic off the streets of communities, thereby removing the chief cause of many accidents and traf ic troubles; in other words, I cure the disease by removing the cause.

In brief, my improved apparatus coin.- pri'ses a supporting frame'or skeleton, pref.- erably made of steel, with open sides and with a plurality of trafiiclevels arranged in superposed relation. The roadways of these several levels, as above mentioned, may be of concrete, for example, and to arrange for the movement of traflic from one level to another within the structure I provide at suitable intervals ramps or lnclined ways leading from one roadway to another along which connection, in order thatvehicles may enter myimproved structure, I have provided for entry of the vehicles to the different levels in such a fashion that all vehicles are not required to pass along or through the same street; For example, I have arranged my apparatus so that vehicles desiring-to enter one level may pass along one street, while vehicles desirlng to enter another level will proceed to that level from another street, .and so on, 111 this way, as above noted, avoiding the necessity of all vehicles deslrous of entering the apparatus proceeding along a single street. It is understood, of course, as above explain'ech'that within-the structure itself provision is made "for the passage of vehicles from one level to another. v

My improved apparatus is also of such a character-that the same maybe extended across waterways, thereby providing for the speeding up of traflic in and out of communities which may be bounded or bordered by rivers, bays, or the like. I v

As above noted, my improved apparatus is capable of installation along railroad rights of way, and it will be appreciated that this is of great advantage to the companies owning these rights of way as well as to the communities through which they pass, inasmuch. as the expense of installation can be divided between the owners. of the rights of way and such communities, rather than the com-munitiesdefraying the entire expense of constructing the highways, as is now the case;

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have illustrated an embodiment of my ,in-

ventiony c Figure 1 is a schematic drawingo'f a city and the surrounding country, showing an installation of my apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus itself; and

Figs. 3 and 4: are longitudinal views of my improved apparatus. I

Referring to the drawings in detail and first of all to Fig. 1, A, B and C designate three streets or highways of a city, and D and E intersecting cross streets, each of these extensions being equipped with my apparatus along the right of way of a. railroad, while the extensions I of the main streetsor highways A, B and C, it may be assumed, are along existing Stateroads. K and L'designate streets not equipped with my multiple highway but provided with ramps for the passage of vehicles from the street level to the cross town highways in the cross streets I) and E. 7

My improved apparatus comprises a structural steel skeleton or frame 2, open .at the sides from top to bottom, as indicated at 3.

This steel skeleton or frame supports a plu rality of roadways, designated 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. These roadways are for Vehicular traffic and constructed of concrete, but they may be, if desired, and preferably are provided with sidewalks 9 and 10 for pedestrians. The lowermost roadway 4: is at such elevation above the ground or initial level as to leave ample headroom for vehicular trafiic on the initial level. The fact that the supporting skeleton or frame is of structural steel not only permits of production manufacture of my apparatus and hence reduction in cost of manufacture but it enablesme to leave the sides of my improved highway open, to provide adequate natural ventilation for the entire apparatus; and in outlying districts probably sutlicient light for lighting the apparatus, although it will be understood that artificial li hting will be provided.

lVhile inilig. 1 I have shown my highways as intersecting, it is to be understood-that in some communities, particularly in outlying country districts, probably no intersecting highway will be employed.

In Fig. 9, I have shown on a somewhat enlarged scale, with respect to the showing in Fig. 1, the manner in which my improved highway is constructed, so as to'permit vehicles to enter the same from the street level. Referring to this figure of the drawing as well as to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the street K is provided with a ramp 11 and the street L with a ramp 12, these ramps extending from the street level to dih erent levels in my improved highway. The ramp 11, for instance, permits vehicles to travel from the street level K to the level 4". of the cross town highway I), while the ramp 12 permits vehicles to run from the street level L to the level 5 of the same cross town highway. These ramps are merely illustrative, it will he understood, inasmuch as the number and location of the ramps ente ing the cross town highway or the main highways erected in the streets A, B and C may be varied. It will be seen that these ramps, therefore, will permit of vehicles proceeding along streets not equipped with my improved apparatus to enter the apparatus at a desired level and to proceed therealong without conflict of traf fic such as would occur if upper levels could be reached only by traversing portions of lowerflevels- By arranging the several ramps '11 and 12 to have their grounder initial level ends at different distances from the multiple road super-structure, I am able stanti'ally parallel to each other and have approximately the same degree'of grade. In add1t10n to the advantages of lower power expenditure in ascending the ramps,'the differ ence in location of-the entering ends of the several ramps incident to'variation' in the length of the ramps further assists in avoiding congestion of traffic by distribution of portions thereof at more or lessremote points. As I have before pointed out, vehicles can proceed from one level to the other within the structure itself, and this has been illus trated in Figs. 3 and 4, Fig. 4: being merely a continuation of the apparatus of Fig. 3. Re ferring to these figures of the drawing and bearing in mind that thesame is a longitudinal section of my multiple highway erected. in the street A, for instance, it will be seen that a ramp 13 is provided within the structure itself for permitting of the passage of vehicles from the street A to the level or roadway 4. In addition to this ramp, I providearampld to permitvehicles to be driven from the street level to the level 5 of my highway, and from the level 5 such vehicles may ascend to thenext level by way of a ramp 15. Extending from the streetll. is a ramp 16 provided for the purpose of permitting vehicles to proceed from the street to level 7 and topvo'r upper level or roadway 8. 7 As a practical proposition, trucks, for eX- ample,;could proceed by the ramp 13 to the level l andtravel to their destination along this level or roadway or thoroughfare; busses could proceed to levels 5 and 6, while passenger vehicles may proceed to roadways or to provideramps whose-surfaces are sublevels 7 and 8. Each class of'traffic being provided with a thoroughfare reserved for that classof'traffio alone may proceed at maximum speed along such thoroughfare. In other words, slow-moving vehicles, such as 'loadedtrucks, will not interfere with the passage of faster-moving vehicles, such as busses and pleasure automobiles, while, eX- tending it still further, the rapid passage of pleasure vehicles would not be interfered with by slowenmoving traflic, such as busses and trucks. It is to be understood also that the ramps above referred to may be used for trafiio in both directions, i. e., the ramps at one side of my multiple highway may be used for the passage of vehicles going in one direction, while traflic in the opposite direction main street being at the same level as the roadway 7 on an intersecting street or highway. All of the roadways l, 5, 6 and 7. are fully protected against the elements, the upper level or roadway 8 being the only one which is not covered. The fact that the upper level is uncovered is somewhat of an advantage, however, in that it permits of an unobstructed view'of the surrounding. country from vehicles traveling therealong, provides landing spaces for aeroplanes if desired, while in the event of a storm, these ve hicles may readily descend by the nearest ramp to the protected roadway below. I

I have not attempted to illustrate, and hence will not describe in detail, the lighting systems or method of traiiic light control which will be installed in my improved apparatus, except merely diagrammatically, as indicated at 1.7, for instance. -.It will'be understood, however, that traffic controllights similar to those now employed in most communities may be readily installed. However, the main object of my invention is obviously accomplished by my improved apparatus in a practicable way. Thatis to say, by segregating the different classes of trafiic and by providing a thoroughfare for each class of traffic, I am able to expedite the passage of the different classes or" tratlic at the speed each class of traillc is capable of, and inasmuch as the. roadways or thoroughfares of my improved apparatus are arranged in superposed relation, I have effected this result in the minimum of space. y

I believe that the expense of erecting my improved apparatus will not be prohibitive, as compared withthe expense of building State highways, but in any event, this extra expense, if any, will be more than ofiset by .the reduction in cost of maintenance, as compared with the cost of maintenance of State highways at present. Obviously, the installation oi my improved apparatus from city to city will synchronize commercial and industrial life, bringing the outlying districts into close contact with important centers, so that not only will my improved apparatus enable tratlic congestion to be relieved in cities and towns, but trafiic may be'speeded up throughout the whole country.

What I claim is:

1.. In multiple highway structures, the combination of a plurality of superimposed road surfaces sutliciently above initial level to provide clearance for vehicular trafiic on the initial level, supporting means for said superimposed surfaces, and. means of approach from the'initial level to each of said superimposed surfaces independently of the other for avoiding traific interference on one level incident to access to another, said several means of approach having surfaces substantially parallel to each other.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 April,1927.

- 1; JOHN A. HARRISS. 

